Agency found me a tenant that works in the same company as me

sg567

Hi all,

I put my property up for rental via an estate agency. The person that the estate agency found and made an offer for my property, works for the same company as me.
What will happen if I ask the person that made the offer to disregard the estate agency and have a contract directly with me? I will obviously be making more from the rent, but is there a legal action that the estate agency can take against me?

Thanks all.

paddedjohn

They introduced them to you so why shouldn't they be paid for their efforts? advertising costs money.

G_M

Presumablyyou have a contract with the agency? Even ifnot written, a verbal one.

They'll find you a tenant and you'll pay them a fee.

If you don't pay the fee, they could sue you.

Personally, the bit I'd be concerned about is letting to a colleague. Imagine he gets into rent arrears? Or you have toevict him? How embarrasing!

ging84

if i was looking to rent a place and the landlord asked me to do anything as deceitful as this my instinct would be to walk away, and if i did go ahead, my thoughts would probably be that the landlord is going to screw at some point, i am not going to let him get away with anything

Better_Days

When I began to read the OP I thought the query would be about the potential difficulties of renting to a work collegue. OP, I suggest you read your contract with the LA.

I think more of a concern is letting to a work collegue. I don't think I would do it. Letting is a business and it is much easier to maintain a business relationship with someone you have no connection with. What if the tenant got into difficulties paying rent and wanted to 'chat' with you about it at work? Would it affect your working relationship with your other collegues if you had to evict? What about if there was a disagreement about repairs or damage done to the property? All are possible and have the potential to make your work life difficult. What are the relative levels of authority in the organisation between yourself and your work collegue?

The whole thing is a can of worms, and if things start to go wrong it could end up with your work life being made a misery. It would be bad enough if something went wrong with the tenancy but if it became an issue at work too it would be horrible.

Of course it may all go swimmingly, but I wouldn't risk it.

prowla

I would assume that of all things they do, the one thing that letting agencies do have properly sewn up is how to enforce a contract.

tim123456789

prowla wrote: »

I would assume that of all things they do, the one thing that letting agencies do have properly sewn up is how to enforce a contract.

you know what assume does, don't you

tim

ognum

Better_Days wrote: »

When I began to read the OP I thought the query would be about the potential difficulties of renting to a work collegue. OP, I suggest you read your contract with the LA.

I think more of a concern is letting to a work collegue. I don't think I would do it. Letting is a business and it is much easier to maintain a business relationship with someone you have no connection with. What if the tenant got into difficulties paying rent and wanted to 'chat' with you about it at work? Would it affect your working relationship with your other collegues if you had to evict? What about if there was a disagreement about repairs or damage done to the property? All are possible and have the potential to make your work life difficult. What are the relative levels of authority in the organisation between yourself and your work collegue?

The whole thing is a can of worms, and if things start to go wrong it could end up with your work life being made a misery. It would be bad enough if something went wrong with the tenancy but if it became an issue at work too it would be horrible.

Of course it may all go swimmingly, but I wouldn't risk it.

my thoughts exactly, I would not let to anyone I had a personal connection with.

theartfullodger

Starting out by ignoring the terms of the contract you agreed with your agent gives a very large green light to your tenant to ignore the terms of the contract he will agree with you to rent the place (you know, like not bothering to pay rent, not bother to look after it, damage etc..)

And I'd not want a tenant working in the same place as me (or landlord with me as tenant..)

Don't think I'd want to do business with someone so keen to cheat either...

Cheers!

hazyjo

It'll be like constantly living next door to your tenant... can you imagine the emails/chats at work? I bet you'll constantly be hearing things about the flat, and they'll be asking for or pointing out every little thing. It'll be the topic of conversation every time you see them. I'd also feel a bit awkward if I heard things about the property that I'd rather not know lol!

Can't say I'd be too keen on letting to someone I know.

Jx

sg567

I don’t actually know the potential tenant. I know they work in my company – but we are not in the same building, and we won’t be. We are in different functions.
I don’t have a contract signed with the agency. Will they ever find out if I do the deal myself? Otherwise I have to pay them a % every month during the duration of the contract!